Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Accept Deny

GoGreenNation News

Learn more about the issues presented in our films
Show Filters

Editorial endorsement: Elect Splitt, Greene, La Forte and Engelsman to Portland Public Schools board

Christy Splitt, Herman Greene, Virginia La Forte and Stephanie Engelsman emerge as the strongest candidates with the experience, independence and vision to lead the board of Portland Public Schools, the editorial board writes.

Portland Public Schools is decidedly not in the best of times. Roughly half of students are struggling to master reading and math, and enrollment is declining. Mistrust and anger are lingering after the 2023 teachers strike, and additional layoffs loom as expenses outpace funding increases. Yet each of the four seats on the May ballot for the district’s board of directors has attracted multiple candidates. That interest is a testament to Portlanders’ loyalty to the city’s public schools, even when there’s much that needs fixing. Good intentions alone won’t steer PPS through its challenges. The board needs members who can work collaboratively to hold the district accountable for educating students, make tough budget cuts and rekindle civic enthusiasm for the district. It needs members who are individually able to withstand pressure and pushback – from the administration, teachers union, legislators and others – to make decisions that are unequivocally centered on students and opening doors to their future. And it needs members who will advocate for more funding while recognizing the imperative to improve student achievement with the resources Portland already has.For PPS, those candidates best equipped to lead the district are Christy Splitt in Zone 1; Herman Greene in Zone 4; Virginia La Forte in Zone 5; and Stephanie Engelsman in Zone 6.While our endorsements focus just on Portland Public Schools, voters across the state are making similar decisions for their local districts. They should similarly look for candidates who demonstrate a focus on accountability, financial stewardship, commitment to student achievement and growth and, crucially, independence. Zone 1 – Southwest Portland including Wells High SchoolChristy Splitt: Splitt, 47, was appointed by Portland school board members just three months ago after former director Andrew Scott stepped down from his seat due to his move out of the Southwest Portland zone. A former teacher who has been involved in state politics as a lobbyist, staffer and environmental advocate, she works for the Oregon Department of Energy as its governmental relations coordinator. That experience navigating policy through the Legislature will be valuable as districts across the state seek greater funding to address rising labor costs as well as legacy pension contributions that sap money intended to help current students. In her short tenure on the board so far, she helped draft a framework for how the district should explore potential cost savings for the modernization of three high schools in the $1.8 billion school construction bond that’s also on the May ballot. The resolution, developed with departing board members Gary Hollands and Julia Brim-Edwards, reflects the kind of balancing act needed, weighing new high school construction with improving decrepit conditions in many elementary and middle schools.Her opponent, Ken Cavagnolo, works in artificial intelligence and notes his commitment to student-focused initiatives and higher salaries for teachers. But his campaign seems driven more by ideological stances than a deep understanding of what’s happening in PPS schools. He acknowledged in his endorsement interview that he has not volunteered at or worked with any Portland schools, nor does he have children in the system. Splitt has shown her commitment for years as a PPS parent, volunteer and PTA leader and is the clear choice.Zone 4 – Parts of North and Northeast Portland, including Roosevelt High School Herman Greene: The race for the seat representing parts of North and Northeast Portland proved to be the toughest of the four to decide. Both the incumbent, Greene, and his opponent, Rashelle Chase-Miller, are dedicated and qualified candidates who either had or currently have children in PPS.But Greene, 51, has already demonstrated his commitment to keeping students’ needs front and center, even when that means going against conventional wisdom or holding firm in contract negotiations with the powerful teachers union. He was among the first to raise alarms about the proposed cost of the new high schools on the May bond measure, urging the district to review the plans’ expenses.In October 2021, he was one of the three board members opposing the majority’s push to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all students 12 and older to attend school – even though health authorities were not recommending such a move. He called out the potential impact of such a policy on pushing away Black students, noting the community’s long history of medical mistreatment. Ultimately, the board agreed, unanimously putting aside the well-intentioned but ill-conceived proposal.He successfully advocated for clarifying district policy to allow high schools to offer a U.S. Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, similar to other career and technical education opportunities. Nothing would require high schools to do so, but many community members objected to the idea of a military-affiliated program. But that shows Greene’s focus on serving students – not Portland sensibilities. School districts should not be in the business of shutting down avenues to a student’s future or prescribing which career paths are politically acceptable. The district’s role is to help students explore their interests and gain the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their futures. And as one of the three directors at the bargaining table during the 2023 teachers strike, he fulfilled a board member’s toughest role. Despite intense pressure to give teachers concessions the district could not afford, Greene stood firm. He has correctly pointed out that without massive new state funding, the district would have to cut school days and other student services if it were to adopt caps on class sizes – one of the most expensive changes sought by teachers. While Greene has repeatedly called for more state funding, the teachers union has still targeted him for replacement as part of its “Flip the PPS Board” campaign. But had the district agreed to more of the union’s demands, ongoing cuts at PPS would be even deeper.Chase-Miller, 43, is a formidable opponent, with her background as a literacy advocate and program director for SMART Reading. She offers deeper analysis of some of the educational policy questions facing board members than Greene, who often seems to make off-the-cuff statements. She provides greater clarity in her priorities for special education and literacy initiatives in the face of budget cuts. And while she supports class size caps, she would preserve the district’s focus on smaller class sizes in Title 1 schools where such an investment makes a more meaningful difference than in high-income neighborhoods.But as a parent leader who prominently embraced the teachers union’s narrative of the strike despite public information to the contrary and whose campaign has received more than $10,000 from the teachers union, she doesn’t project the independence necessary for a board member whose constituency is students. Greene is quick to admit that he’s not politically polished, but he is comfortable advocating for the diverse needs of a broad student body, even if it goes against conventional wisdom. With the departures of Hollands and Brim-Edwards, the board is losing key accountability-minded members. Greene’s voice is an important one to keep.Zone 5 – Northeast Portland including Grant and McDaniel High SchoolsVirginia La Forte: As the mother of a current PPS high schooler and a 2024 PPS graduate, La Forte has shown up for years as a volunteer, advocate and, when needed, challenger to the district. More than a decade ago, she pressed PPS to clean up hazardous lead paint at schools. She served on the advisory group helping develop the district’s 2017 bond to rebuild three high schools and mitigate environmental hazards, including lead in schools’ drinking water. The 54-year-old marketing strategist most recently has been leading the charge for the district to install lights at the field next to Grant High School, allowing sports teams to hold more games at their home field rather than traveling off-site – missing class time as a result. Proceeds for the bond measure on the May ballot would address this need.Those efforts reflect one of La Forte’s strengths – her ability to identify, create and execute a solution to big problems. She would bring that approach to her top priorities of addressing chronic absenteeism, low literacy rates and the district’s crumbling infrastructure.Among her ideas is to explore how to braid together schools and community partners to provide full-day summer programs that offer high-dosage tutoring as well as sports and recreational opportunities. She noted the importance of trainings for teachers in literacy techniques and the need to target the causes underlying chronic absenteeism as factors in boosting reading proficiency.But she also would strengthen the board with an understanding of what accountability entails. When asked how she would hold the district superintendent accountable, she discussed the components of creating shared goals, establishing a plan, identifying metrics to measure progress and then regularly checking in with multiple groups – an often skipped step.Opponent Jorge Sanchez Bautista, 18, is a senior at McDaniel High School who has experienced first-hand some of the shortcomings of the district and the challenges borne by students as a result of insufficient resources. Part of the teachers union’s “Flip the PPS Board” slate, Bautista has been politically active on a number of social justice issues, picketed regularly with teachers during the 2023 strike and brings an affable and authentic enthusiasm. He identifies himself as a member of the Oregon Board of Education – although in actuality, he has a student advisory role – but his platform lacks the specificity, focus and depth that La Forte brings. While his commitment to engage the community to guide his decisions is a crucial part of representation, he did not show a clear vision of what he would seek to achieve. We look forward to hearing more from Bautista, who plans to attend Portland State University and, possibly, University of Oregon afterwards. But for getting big things done now, La Forte is the stronger choice.Zone 6 – Southeast Portland including Cleveland and Franklin High SchoolsStephanie Engelsman: Few board members have shown the level of rigorous oversight as Zone 6 Director Julia Brim-Edwards, who is finishing her second consecutive term on the school board. Whether they liked it or not, fellow board members knew she would come to meetings armed with specific questions derived from reading board packets and talking with administrators and community members. With Brim-Edwards not running for re-election, the candidate who will best fill her shoes and provide that scrutiny to district policies and decisions is Engelsman.Engelsman, 47, brings her experience not just as a parent of PPS elementary school kids, but also her years as a public defense attorney working with youth in juvenile cases and foster care. She notes the hardships that families face and how they connect with students’ ability to succeed in school – or even to just attend. She identifies how specific policies, such as automatic unenrollment for students who are absent without academic engagement for 10 consecutive school days, can contribute to chronic absenteeism, especially for those without the parental assistance to re-enroll. While she hopes to lower class sizes, she recognizes the necessity of ensuring Title 1 schools’ classrooms get priority in lean budget years. She said she would look for other creative ways to bring in more community resources, from student-teachers to nonprofits that can help provide that assistance and attention that current staffing levels cannot.She emphasizes the importance of doing the reading for board meetings, being prepared and asking the tough questions. She also intends to regularly visit schools – a key component of understanding issues and building trust with school community members. Her two opponents, business owner Rob Galanakis, 40, and disaster resilience consultant Simone Crowe, 37, don’t provide the same education-focused agenda that Engelsman offers. Galanakis often spoke of education as an afterthought, focusing his priorities around housing and transportation policies – areas over which the school board has limited influence and control. Crowe also lacked the familiarity with district budget concerns that are critical to strong oversight. While we did not agree with some of Engelsman’s answers, she has shown that she will bring a critical eye and informed viewpoint that the board needs. -The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher. Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. If you have questions about the opinion section, email Helen Jung, opinion editor, or call 503-294-7621.

Business
Education
Energy

The Trump Team Wants to Boost Birth Rates While Poisoning Children

“I want a baby boom,” Trump has said. His administration is indeed exploring a range of approaches to boost the birth rate, including baby bonuses and classes on natural fertility. Yet his focus is entirely on the production of babies. When it comes to keeping these babies alive, this administration is leaving parents on their own, facing some horrifying and unprecedented challenges. It’s common for right-wing American governments, whether at the state or federal level, to be only half-heartedly natalist: restricting abortion, birth control, and sex education, while also failing to embrace any policy that makes it easier to raise a family, like universal childcare, robust public education, school lunch, cash supports for parents, or paid family leave. But the Trump-Vance government has taken this paradox to a new level, with natalist rhetoric far surpassing that of other recent administrations, while real live children are treated with more depraved, life-threatening indifference than in any American government in at least a century. Due to brutal cuts at the Food and Drug Administration, where 20,000 employees have been fired, the administration has suspended one of its quality-control programs for milk, Reuters reported this week. Milk is iconically associated with child health, and this is not a mere storybook whimsy: Most pediatricians regard it as critical for young children’s developing brains and bones. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends two cups a day for babies between 1 and 2 years old. While some experts—and of course the administration—are downplaying the change, emphasizing that milk will still be regulated, a bird flu epidemic hardly seems like the right time to be cutting corners. A government so focused on making more babies shouldn’t be so indifferent to risks to our nation’s toddlers.This reckless approach to child safety is not limited to food. Also this week, The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency was canceling tens of millions of dollars in grants for research on environmental hazards to children in rural America. These hazards include pesticides, wildfire smoke, and forever chemicals, and the grants supported research toward solutions to such problems. Many focused on improving child health in red states like Oklahoma. Children are much more vulnerable than adults to the health problems that can stem from exposure to toxins. That makes Trump’s policies, for all his baby-friendly chatter, seem pathologically misopedic; he is reversing bans on so-called “forever chemicals” and repealing limits set by the Biden administration on lead exposure, all of which will have devastating effects on children’s mental and physical development.And of course there’s RFK Jr.’s crazy campaign against vaccines. This week, the health secretary said he was considering removing the Covid-19 vaccine from the list of vaccines the government recommends for children, even though to win Senate confirmation, he had agreed not to alter the childhood vaccine schedule. Even worse, RFK Jr. has used his office to promote disinformation about extensively debunked links between vaccines and autism, while praising unproven “treatments” for measles as an outbreak that has afflicted more than 600 people and killed at least three continues to spread. Trump’s public health cuts are meanwhile imperiling a program that gives free vaccines to children. So far, I haven’t even mentioned children outside the United States. Trump has not only continued Biden’s policy of mass infanticide in Gaza—at least 100 children there have been killed or injured every week by Israeli forces since the dissolution of the ceasefire in March—he has vastly surpassed that shameful record by dismantling USAID. (The Supreme Court demanded that the government restore some of the funding to the already-contracted programs, but it’s unclear what the results of that ruling will be.) Children across the globe will starve to death due to this policy. The cuts to nutrition funding alone, researchers estimate, will kill some 369,000 children who could otherwise have lived. That’s not even counting all the other children’s lives imperiled by USAID funding cuts to vaccines, health services, and maternal care, or the children who will go unprotected now that Trump has cut 69 programs dedicated to tracking child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.Natalist or exterminationist? Pro-child or rabidly infanticidal? It’s tempting to dismiss such extreme contradictions within the Trump administration as merely chaotic and incoherent. But the situation is worse than that. Trying to boost births while actively making the world less safe for children is creepy—but not in a new way. The contradiction is baked into the eugenicist tradition that Vance and Trump openly embrace. Vance said at an anti-abortion rally in January that he wanted “more babies in the United States of America.” Vance also said he wanted “more beautiful young men and women” to have children. Notice he doesn’t just say “more babies”: the qualifiers are significant. Vance was implying that he wanted the right people to have babies: American, white, able-bodied, “beautiful” people with robust genetics. Children dying because of USAID cuts aren’t part of this vision, presumably, because those children are not American or white. As for infected milk, environmental toxins, or measles—here too, it’s hard not to hear social Darwinist overtones: In a far-right eugenicist worldview, children killed by those things likely aren’t fit for survival. In a more chaotic and dangerous environment, this extremely outdated logic goes, natural selection will ensure that the strongest survive. It’s also worth noting that this way of thinking originates in—and many of these Trump administration policies aim to return us to—an earlier era, when people of all ages, but especially children, were simply poisoned by industrial pollution, unvaccinated for diseases, and unprotected from industrial accidents. In such an unsafe world for children, people had many more of them; the world was such a dangerous place to raise kids that families expected to lose a few. That all-too-recent period is the unspoken context for natalist and eugenicist visions. That’s the world Trump and Vance seem to be nostalgic for, one in which women were constantly pregnant and in labor, and children were constantly dying horrible deaths. Doesn’t that sound pleasant for everyone?

“I want a baby boom,” Trump has said. His administration is indeed exploring a range of approaches to boost the birth rate, including baby bonuses and classes on natural fertility. Yet his focus is entirely on the production of babies. When it comes to keeping these babies alive, this administration is leaving parents on their own, facing some horrifying and unprecedented challenges. It’s common for right-wing American governments, whether at the state or federal level, to be only half-heartedly natalist: restricting abortion, birth control, and sex education, while also failing to embrace any policy that makes it easier to raise a family, like universal childcare, robust public education, school lunch, cash supports for parents, or paid family leave. But the Trump-Vance government has taken this paradox to a new level, with natalist rhetoric far surpassing that of other recent administrations, while real live children are treated with more depraved, life-threatening indifference than in any American government in at least a century. Due to brutal cuts at the Food and Drug Administration, where 20,000 employees have been fired, the administration has suspended one of its quality-control programs for milk, Reuters reported this week. Milk is iconically associated with child health, and this is not a mere storybook whimsy: Most pediatricians regard it as critical for young children’s developing brains and bones. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends two cups a day for babies between 1 and 2 years old. While some experts—and of course the administration—are downplaying the change, emphasizing that milk will still be regulated, a bird flu epidemic hardly seems like the right time to be cutting corners. A government so focused on making more babies shouldn’t be so indifferent to risks to our nation’s toddlers.This reckless approach to child safety is not limited to food. Also this week, The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency was canceling tens of millions of dollars in grants for research on environmental hazards to children in rural America. These hazards include pesticides, wildfire smoke, and forever chemicals, and the grants supported research toward solutions to such problems. Many focused on improving child health in red states like Oklahoma. Children are much more vulnerable than adults to the health problems that can stem from exposure to toxins. That makes Trump’s policies, for all his baby-friendly chatter, seem pathologically misopedic; he is reversing bans on so-called “forever chemicals” and repealing limits set by the Biden administration on lead exposure, all of which will have devastating effects on children’s mental and physical development.And of course there’s RFK Jr.’s crazy campaign against vaccines. This week, the health secretary said he was considering removing the Covid-19 vaccine from the list of vaccines the government recommends for children, even though to win Senate confirmation, he had agreed not to alter the childhood vaccine schedule. Even worse, RFK Jr. has used his office to promote disinformation about extensively debunked links between vaccines and autism, while praising unproven “treatments” for measles as an outbreak that has afflicted more than 600 people and killed at least three continues to spread. Trump’s public health cuts are meanwhile imperiling a program that gives free vaccines to children. So far, I haven’t even mentioned children outside the United States. Trump has not only continued Biden’s policy of mass infanticide in Gaza—at least 100 children there have been killed or injured every week by Israeli forces since the dissolution of the ceasefire in March—he has vastly surpassed that shameful record by dismantling USAID. (The Supreme Court demanded that the government restore some of the funding to the already-contracted programs, but it’s unclear what the results of that ruling will be.) Children across the globe will starve to death due to this policy. The cuts to nutrition funding alone, researchers estimate, will kill some 369,000 children who could otherwise have lived. That’s not even counting all the other children’s lives imperiled by USAID funding cuts to vaccines, health services, and maternal care, or the children who will go unprotected now that Trump has cut 69 programs dedicated to tracking child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.Natalist or exterminationist? Pro-child or rabidly infanticidal? It’s tempting to dismiss such extreme contradictions within the Trump administration as merely chaotic and incoherent. But the situation is worse than that. Trying to boost births while actively making the world less safe for children is creepy—but not in a new way. The contradiction is baked into the eugenicist tradition that Vance and Trump openly embrace. Vance said at an anti-abortion rally in January that he wanted “more babies in the United States of America.” Vance also said he wanted “more beautiful young men and women” to have children. Notice he doesn’t just say “more babies”: the qualifiers are significant. Vance was implying that he wanted the right people to have babies: American, white, able-bodied, “beautiful” people with robust genetics. Children dying because of USAID cuts aren’t part of this vision, presumably, because those children are not American or white. As for infected milk, environmental toxins, or measles—here too, it’s hard not to hear social Darwinist overtones: In a far-right eugenicist worldview, children killed by those things likely aren’t fit for survival. In a more chaotic and dangerous environment, this extremely outdated logic goes, natural selection will ensure that the strongest survive. It’s also worth noting that this way of thinking originates in—and many of these Trump administration policies aim to return us to—an earlier era, when people of all ages, but especially children, were simply poisoned by industrial pollution, unvaccinated for diseases, and unprotected from industrial accidents. In such an unsafe world for children, people had many more of them; the world was such a dangerous place to raise kids that families expected to lose a few. That all-too-recent period is the unspoken context for natalist and eugenicist visions. That’s the world Trump and Vance seem to be nostalgic for, one in which women were constantly pregnant and in labor, and children were constantly dying horrible deaths. Doesn’t that sound pleasant for everyone?

Chemicals
Education
Food

A rare glimpse inside the mountain tunnel that carries water to Southern California

In the 1930s, workers bored a 13-mile tunnel beneath Mt. San Jacinto. Here's a look inside the engineering feat that carries Colorado River water to Southern California.

Thousands of feet below the snowy summit of Mt. San Jacinto, a formidable feat of engineering and grit makes life as we know it in Southern California possible. The 13-mile-long San Jacinto Tunnel was bored through the mountain in the 1930s by a crew of about 1,200 men who worked day and night for six years, blasting rock and digging with machinery. Completed in 1939, the tunnel was a cornerstone in the construction of the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct. It enabled the delivery of as much as 1 billion gallons of water per day.The tunnel is usually off-limits when it is filled and coursing with a massive stream of Colorado River water. But recently, while it was shut down for annual maintenance, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California opened the west end of the passage to give The Times and others a rare look inside. “It’s an engineering marvel,” said John Bednarski, an assistant general manager of MWD. “It’s pretty awe-inspiring.” The 16-foot-diameter San Jacinto Tunnel runs 13 miles through the mountain. While shut down for maintenance, the tunnel has a constant stream of water entering from the mountain. A group visits the west end of the San Jacinto Tunnel, where the mouth of the water tunnel enters a chamber. He wore a hard hat as he led a group to the gaping, horseshoe-shaped mouth of the tunnel. The passage’s concrete arch faded in the distance to pitch black.The tunnel wasn’t entirely empty. The sound of rushing water echoed from the walls as an ankle-deep stream flowed from the portal and cascaded into a churning pool beneath metal gates. Many in the tour group wore rubber boots as they stood on moist concrete in a chamber faintly lit by filtered sunlight, peering into the dark tunnel. This constant flow comes as groundwater seeps and gushes from springs that run through the heart of the mountain. In places deep in the tunnel, water shoots so forcefully from the floor or the wall that workers have affectionately named these soaking obstacles “the fire hose” and “the car wash.”Standing by the flowing stream, Bednarski called it “leakage water from the mountain itself.”Mt. San Jacinto rises 10,834 feet above sea level, making it the second-highest peak in Southern California after 11,503-foot Mt. San Gorgonio.As the tunnel passes beneath San Jacinto’s flank, as much as 2,500 feet of solid rock lies overhead, pierced only by two vertical ventilation shafts. Snow covers Mt. San Jacinto, as seen from Whitewater, in March. At the base of the mountain, the 13-mile San Jacinto Tunnel starts its journey. The tunnel transports Colorado River water to Southern California’s cities. During maintenance, workers roll through on a tractor equipped with a frame bearing metal bristles that scrape the tunnel walls, cleaning off algae and any growth of invasive mussels. Workers also inspect the tunnel by passing through on an open trailer, scanning for any cracks that require repairs.“It’s like a Disneyland ride,” said Bryan Raymond, an MWD conveyance team manager. “You’re sitting on this trailer, and there’s a bunch of other people on it too, and you’re just cruising through looking at the walls.” Aside from the spraying and trickling water, employee Michael Volpone said he has also heard faint creaking.“If you sit still and listen, you can kind of hear the earth move,” he said. “It’s a little eerie.”Standing at the mouth of the tunnel, the constant babble of cascading water dominates the senses. The air is moist but not musty. Put a hand to the clear flowing water, and it feels warm enough for a swim. On the concrete walls are stained lines that extend into the darkness, marking where the water often reaches when the aqueduct is running full. Many who have worked on the aqueduct say they are impressed by the system’s design and how engineers and workers built such a monumental system with the basic tools and technology available during the Great Depression.Pipelines and tunnelsThe search for a route to bring Colorado River water across the desert to Los Angeles began with the signing of a 1922 agreement that divided water among seven states. After the passage of a $2-million bond measure by Los Angeles voters in 1925, hundreds of surveyors fanned out across the largely roadless Mojave and Sonoran deserts to take measurements and study potential routes.The surveyors traveled mostly on horseback and on foot as they mapped the rugged terrain, enduring grueling days in desert camps where the heat sometimes topped 120 degrees.Planners studied and debated more than 100 potential paths before settling on one in 1931. The route began near Parker, Ariz., and took a curving path through desert valleys, around obstacles and, where there was no better option, through mountains.In one official report, a manager wrote that “to bore straight through the mountains is very expensive and to pump over them is likewise costly.” He said the planners carefully weighed these factors as they decided on a solution that would deliver water at the lowest cost. VIDEO | 02:45 A visit to the giant tunnel that brings Colorado River water to Southern California Share via Those in charge of the Metropolitan Water District, which had been created in 1928 to lead the effort, were focused on delivering water to 13 participating cities, including Los Angeles, Burbank and Anaheim. William Mulholland, Los Angeles’ chief water engineer, had led an early scouting party to map possible routes from the Colorado River to Southern California’s cities in 1923, a decade after he celebrated the completion of the 233-mile aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles with the triumphant words, “There it is. Take it.”The aqueduct’s design matched the audaciousness of the giant dams the federal government was starting to build along the Colorado — Hoover Dam (originally called Boulder Dam) and Parker Dam, which formed the reservoir where the aqueduct would begin its journey.Five pumping plants would be built to lift water more than 1,600 feet along the route across the desert. Between those points, water would run by gravity through open canals, buried pipelines and 29 separate tunnels stretching 92 miles — the longest of which was a series of nine tunnels running 33.7 miles through hills bordering the Coachella Valley.To make it possible, voters in the district’s 13 cities overwhelmingly approved a $220-million bond in 1931, the equivalent of a $4.5-billion investment today, which enabled the hiring of 35,000 workers. Crews set up camps, excavated canals and began to blast open shafts through the desert’s rocky spines to make way for water.In 1933, workers started tearing into the San Jacinto Mountains at several locations, from the east and the west, as well as excavating shafts from above. Black-and-white photographs and films showed miners in hard hats and soiled uniforms as they stood smoking cigarettes, climbing into open rail cars and running machinery that scooped and loaded piles of rocks.Crews on another hulking piece of equipment, called a jumbo, used compressed-air drills to bore dozens of holes, which were packed with blasting power and detonated to pierce the rock. (Courtesy of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) The work progressed slowly, growing complicated when the miners struck underground streams, which sent water gushing in.According to a 1991 history of the MWD titled “A Water Odyssey,” one flood in 1934 disabled two of three pumps that had been brought in to clear the tunnel. In another sudden flood, an engineer recalled that “the water came in with a big, mad rush and filled the shaft to the top. Miners scrambled up the 800-foot ladder to the surface, and the last man out made it with water swirling around his waist.”Death and delaysAccording to the MWD’s records, 13 workers died during the tunnel’s construction, including men who were struck by falling rocks, run over by equipment or electrocuted with a wire on one of the mining trolleys that rolled on railroad tracks. The Metropolitan Water District had originally hired Wenzel & Henoch Construction Co. to build the tunnel. But after less than two years, only about two miles of the tunnel had been excavated, and the contractor was fired by MWD general manager Frank Elwin “F.E.” Weymouth, who assigned the district’s engineers and workers to complete the project.Construction was delayed again in 1937 when workers went on strike for six weeks. But in 1939, the last wall of rock tumbled down, uniting the east and west tunnels, and the tunnel was finished. John Bednarski, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, stands in a water tunnel near the end point of the larger San Jacinto Tunnel, which carries Colorado River water. The total cost was $23.5 million. But there also were other costs. As the construction work drained water, many nearby springs used by the Native Soboba people stopped flowing. The drying of springs and creeks left the tribe’s members without water and starved their farms, which led to decades of litigation by the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and eventually a legal settlement in 2008 that resolved the tribe’s water rights claims.The ‘magic touch’ of waterBy the time the tunnel was completed, the Metropolitan Water District had released a 20-minute film that was shown in movie theaters and schools celebrating its conquest of the Colorado River and the desert. It called Mt. San Jacinto the “tallest and most forbidding barrier.”In a rich baritone, the narrator declared Southern California “a new empire made possible by the magic touch of water.” “Water required to support this growth and wealth could not be obtained from the local rainfall in this land of sunshine,” the narrator said as the camera showed newly built homes and streets filled with cars and buses. “The people therefore realized that a new and dependable water supply must be provided, and this new water supply has been found on the lofty western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, a wonderland of beauty, clad by nature in a white mantle of snow.”Water began to flow through the aqueduct in 1939 as the pumping plants were tested. At the Julian Hinds Pumping Plant, near the aqueduct’s halfway point, water was lifted 441 feet, surging through three pipelines up a desert mountain. March 2012 image of the 10-foot-diameter delivery lines carrying water 441 feet uphill from the Julian Hinds Pumping Plant. (Los Angeles Times) From there, the water flowed by gravity, moving at 3-6 mph as it traveled through pipelines, siphons and tunnels. It entered the San Jacinto Tunnel in Cabazon, passed under the mountain and emerged near the city of San Jacinto, then continued in pipelines to Lake Mathews reservoir in Riverside County. In 1941, Colorado River water started flowing to Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Compton and other cities. Within six years, another pipeline was built to transport water from the aqueduct south to San Diego.The influx of water fueled Southern California’s rapid growth during and after World War II.Over decades, the dams and increased diversions also took an environmental toll, drying up much of the once-vast wetlands in Mexico’s Colorado River Delta. John Bednarski, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, walks in a water tunnel near the end point of the larger San Jacinto Tunnel. An impressive designToday, 19 million people depend on water delivered by the MWD, which also imports supplies from Northern California through the aqueducts and pipelines of the State Water Project.In recent decades, the agency has continued boring tunnels where needed to move water. A $1.2-billion, 44-mile-long conveyance system called the Inland Feeder, completed in 2009, involved boring eight miles of tunnels through the San Bernardino Mountains and another 7.9-mile tunnel under the Badlands in Riverside County.The system enabled the district to increase its capacity and store more water during wet years in Diamond Valley Lake, Southern California’s largest reservoir, which can hold about 260 billion gallons of water. “Sometimes tunneling is actually the most effective way to get from point A to point B,” said Deven Upadhyay, the MWD’s general manager.Speaking hypothetically, Upadhyay said, if engineers had another shot at designing and building the aqueduct now using modern technology, it’s hard to say if they would end up choosing the same route through Mt. San Jacinto or a different route around it. But the focus on minimizing cost might yield a similar route, he said.“Even to this day, it’s a pretty impressive design,” Upadhyay said.When people drive past on the I-10 in Cabazon, few realize that a key piece of infrastructure lies hidden where the desert meets the base of the mountain. At the tunnel’s exit point near San Jacinto, the only visible signs of the infrastructure are several concrete structures resembling bunkers. When the aqueduct is running, those who enter the facility will hear the rumble of rushing water. The tunnel’s west end was opened to a group of visitors in March, when the district’s managers held an event to name the tunnel in honor of Randy Record, who served on the MWD board for two decades and was chair from 2014 to 2018. Speaking to an audience, Upadhyay reflected on the struggles the region now faces as the Colorado River is sapped by drought and global warming, and he drew a parallel to the challenges the tunnel’s builders overcame in the 1930s. “They found a path,” Upadhyay said. “This incredible engineering feat. And it required strength, courage and really an innovative spirit.” “When we now think about the challenges that we face today, dealing with wild swings in climate and the potential reductions that we might face, sharing dwindling supplies on our river systems with the growing Southwest, it’s going to require the same thing — strength, courage and a spirit of innovation,” he said. A steep steel staircase gives access to a water tunnel near the end point of the larger San Jacinto Tunnel, which carries Colorado River water to Southern California.

Water
Mountains
Government

Coalition fears spending cuts could idle central Oregon trail maintenance

Jana Johnson of Deschutes Trails Coalition says federal funding cuts will indefinitely pause trail maintenance performed by professionals.

Each summer the Deschutes Trails Coalition dispatches a small crew into the forest around Bend to improve trail conditions for myriad hikers. They remove fallen trees, repair trails impacted by erosion and cut back overgrown vegetation. But those involved with trail maintenance are increasingly worried the work relied on by both locals and visitors will soon come to a screeching halt. Jana Johnson, executive director of the nonprofit coalition, says federal funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration will indefinitely pause trail maintenance performed by professionals. A hiring freeze for seasonal workers will only compound problems for the Forest Service. “There’s obviously a lot of staffing shortages. There have been firings. People have been leaving our federal agencies due to the current budget and offers from the current administration,” said Johnson. “The public needs to know that our public lands are struggling right now.” READ MORE: Oregon hikers asked to ‘step up’ as federal cuts threaten Northwest trails The Deschutes Trails Coalition — in the third year of a three-year pilot project to pay for trail maintenance — was expecting a $200,000 grant to pay for a trail crew to operate through the summer. But that funding has been canceled, casting doubt about how the nonprofit will pay for trail maintenance in the years ahead. The coalition planned to stretch the funding over the next three years, supplemented by grants. “But without that $200,000, we are just left scrambling to try to figure out how we are going to fund them,” said Johnson. Concerns that trail maintenance won’t happen this year on the Deschutes and other national forests reflect broader worries that the Trump administration is sidelining environmental protections and recreation in favor of resource extraction. Executive orders are already in place to increase logging and fossil fuel extraction on public lands. The Deschutes River Trail runs through Tumalo State Park in central Oregon near Bend. One section of the trail follows a metal boardwalk over a field of boulders. Jamie Hale/The OregonianNate Wyeth, vice president of strategy for Visit Bend, says abandoning professional trail maintenance won’t go unnoticed by the public. “Our unparalleled access to outdoor recreation is the top reason many folks visit or live in Bend, and the current federal funding crisis will undoubtedly impact trail conditions, creating a negative visitor experience,” Wyeth said. An inquiry to the U.S. Forest Service from the Bulletin related to the disappearance of funding for trail maintenance went unanswered. Maintaining trails in national forests and other public lands has only become more challenging in recent years, due to increased demand from the public to hike and explore the outdoors. Project work has piled up due to increased use. “We already have millions of dollars of backlog of maintenance that needs to be done on our trails,” said Johnson. “So we’re just going to keep falling further behind if we don’t have crews that are working on maintenance and projects.” While volunteer crews occasionally maintain local trails, the Deschutes Trail Coalition crew is the only paid, professional crew working on the Deschutes National Forest. Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone acknowledged that the Trump administration is tightening the purse strings, impacting groups like the trails coalition. “These are times of action, obviously, from Washington D.C. when the dollars are stopping in different directions,” said DeBone. “People could or need to think differently this year,” he added. “This is the time where if those resources aren’t there, what’s the next plan? Being able to open up a trail can be done in partnership with the federal government.” DeBone suggested local organizations like the Deschutes Trail Coalition find out what is possible to accomplish. “Volunteers can get quite a bit done,” he said. Trail maintenance on the Deschutes National Forest usually starts in May and continues until mid-October. Johnson said there are some funds leftover from a year ago along with some new grants that can be used to get some work done at the start of the season. But the coalition’s account will be drained fairly soon, she predicts. “We desperately need funds,” Johnson said. Courtney Braun, co-owner of Wanderlust Tours in Bend, said she is anxious about what federal funding cuts mean for national forests’ partner organizations and public lands. “We feel this could impact not only the health and maintenance of the forest including trails, but could impact visitor safety without as many boots on the ground or trail maintenance,” said Braun. “This also will affect future projects of trail building that will delay some major improvements for both our community and visitors alike.” Braun said she hopes the community can “rally around” public lands and support federal employees who have been left with large funding gaps in their departments. “We can encourage visitors to really lean into volunteering and understanding or educating themselves about the lands upon which we recreate,” said Braun. “Hopefully with all of our powers combined we can still offer a high quality visitor experience. It just may look a bit different.”Approximately two dozen organizations conduct volunteer trail maintenance in Central Oregon, including: • Sisters Trail Alliance • Oregon Equestrian Trails • Central Oregon Trail Alliance • Friends of the Central Cascades Wilderness • Central Oregon Nordic Club — Michael Kohn, The Bulletin

Crisis
Forests
Government

Costa Rica’s Tortuga Island Coral Garden Revives Reefs

The coral reefs off Tortuga Island in the Gulf of Nicoya are experiencing a remarkable revival, thanks to an innovative coral garden project spearheaded by local institutions and communities. Launched in August 2024, this initiative has made significant strides in restoring ecosystems devastated by both natural and human-induced degradation, offering hope amidst a global coral […] The post Costa Rica’s Tortuga Island Coral Garden Revives Reefs appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

The coral reefs off Tortuga Island in the Gulf of Nicoya are experiencing a remarkable revival, thanks to an innovative coral garden project spearheaded by local institutions and communities. Launched in August 2024, this initiative has made significant strides in restoring ecosystems devastated by both natural and human-induced degradation, offering hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis. The project, a collaborative effort led by the State Distance University (UNED) Puntarenas branch, the Nautical Fishing Nucleus of the National Learning Institute (INA), the PROLAB laboratory, and Bay Island Cruises, has transplanted 1,050 coral fragments from June to September 2024, with an additional 300 corals added in early 2025. This builds on earlier efforts, bringing the total volume of cultivated coral to approximately 9,745.51 cm³, a promising indicator of recovery for the region’s coral and fish populations. The initiative employs advanced coral gardening techniques, including “coral trees” — multi-level frames where coral fragments are suspended — and “clotheslines,” which allow corals to grow in optimal conditions with ample light, oxygenation, and protection from predators. These structures are anchored to the seabed, floating about 5 meters below the surface. Rodolfo Vargas Ugalde, a coral reef gardening specialist at INA’s Nautical Fishing Nucleus, explained that these methods, introduced by INA in 2013, accelerate coral growth, enabling maturity in just one year compared to the natural rate of 2.5 cm annually. “In the Pacific, three coral species adapt well to these structures, thriving under the favorable conditions they provide,” Vargas noted. The project was born out of necessity following a diagnosis that revealed Tortuga Island’s reefs were completely degraded due to sedimentation, pollution, and overexploitation. “Corals are the tropical forests of the ocean,” Vargas emphasized, highlighting their role as ecosystems that support at least 25% of marine life and 33% of fish diversity, while also driving tourism, a key economic pillar for the region. Sindy Scafidi, a representative from UNED, underscored the project’s broader impact: “Research in this area allows us to rescue, produce, and multiply corals, contributing to the sustainable development of the region so that these species, a major tourist attraction, are preserved.” The initiative actively involves local communities, fostering a sense of stewardship and ensuring long-term conservation. This local success story contrasts with a grim global outlook. A recent report by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) revealed that 84% of the world’s coral reefs have been affected by the most intense bleaching event on record, driven by warming oceans. Since January 2023, 82 countries have reported damage, with the crisis ongoing. In Costa Rica, 77% of coral reef ecosystems face serious threats, primarily from human activities like sedimentation, pollution, and resource overexploitation. Despite these challenges, the Tortuga Island project demonstrates resilience. By focusing on species suited to the Gulf of Nicoya’s conditions and leveraging innovative cultivation techniques, the initiative is rebuilding reefs that can withstand environmental stressors. The collaboration with Bay Island Cruises has also facilitated logistical support, enabling divers and researchers to access the site efficiently. The project aligns with broader coral restoration efforts across Costa Rica, such as the Samara Project, which planted 2,000 corals by January and aims for 3,000 by year-end. Together, these initiatives highlight Costa Rica’s commitment to marine conservation, offering a model for other regions grappling with reef degradation. As global temperatures continue to rise, with oceans absorbing much of the excess heat, experts stress the urgency of combining restoration with climate action. The Tortuga Island coral garden project stands as a ray of hope, proving that targeted, community-driven efforts can revive vital ecosystems even in the face of unprecedented challenges. The post Costa Rica’s Tortuga Island Coral Garden Revives Reefs appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Climate
Conservation
Crisis

How to allergy-proof your home

According to data from the Allergy and Asthma Network, 1 in 5 Americans have been diagnosed with environmental allergies, and over 50 percent of allergy sufferers say allergies impact their daily quality of life. Environmental allergies can include pollen, dust, mold, pet dander, and poor air quality. Your home should be a sanctuary, but allergens […] The post How to allergy-proof your home appeared first on Popular Science.

According to data from the Allergy and Asthma Network, 1 in 5 Americans have been diagnosed with environmental allergies, and over 50 percent of allergy sufferers say allergies impact their daily quality of life. Environmental allergies can include pollen, dust, mold, pet dander, and poor air quality. Your home should be a sanctuary, but allergens can make it a house of horrors. We rounded up a team of experts who provide practical tips and advice to help you allergy-proof your home and turn it into a comfortable and healthy place that you and your family can enjoy. Consider your flooring According to Dr. John McKeon, CEO of Allergy Standards Ltd., flooring is one of the largest surfaces in your home and can significantly influence your indoor air quality (IAQ)—especially if you have allergies. He explains that different types of flooring materials can either contribute to the buildup of allergies and pollutants or help maintain a cleaner environment. “Flooring can trap dust, pet dander, pollen, and mold, which can become airborne when disturbed, and if not regularly and thoroughly cleaned, these allergens can accumulate and negatively affect IAQ.”  McKeon notes that hard-surface flooring, like wood, tile, or vinyl, may not trap allergens as easily, but says it’s still important to select materials that are easy to clean and maintain. “Also, sticky allergen particles can be more difficult to remove from some types of flooring during cleaning,” McKeon warns. Here’s something else to consider: MeKeon says many flooring products and any associated adhesives or chemical treatments can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. “Exposure to these compounds can cause respiratory irritation and trigger allergic asthma.”  And if your flooring absorbs moisture, it can encourage mold and mildew. “Mold spores are a major concern for individuals with allergies and asthma, as they can easily become airborne and trigger allergic reactions or asthma symptoms,” McKeon says. However, he admits that the lack of strict regulations around health claims on household products has led to a flood of marketing terms, such as “eco-friendly,” “green,” and “low VOC,” making it difficult to know which products actually support better indoor air quality (IAQ). “I recommend choosing flooring that has been independently tested and verified,” McKeon says. Encourage shoe-free zones Studies show that it’s a good idea to take your shoes off when you come inside, and Lisa Sternfeld, interior designer, environmental health and wellness expert, and founder of WLLW, tells me there’s a good reason why.  “Shoes carry a wide range of contaminants, including pollen, dirt, and dust,” Sternfeld says. ”By removing shoes at the door, you’ll keep allergens out and prevent them from spreading to other areas.”  Tribesigns Shoe Cabinet Tribesigns Put this Tribesigns Shoe Cabinet near the entryway. It holds two dozen pairs of shoes and also has storage space for keys and other items on top.  Consider the impact of paint Paint can affect the appearance of your home, but it can also impact your IAQ. “The release of VOCs can irritate the respiratory system and exacerbate allergy symptoms,” McKeon warns. “It is advised that people with sensitivities to certain chemicals and those impacted by asthma and allergies limit exposure to VOCs as much as possible.”  However, considering their potentially harmful effects, McKeon says everyone should limit exposure to these chemicals. Even paint products that claim to be ‘low-VOC’ or ‘non-toxic’ may not necessarily meet the requirements to ensure safety. “Third-party certification is crucial because many paint manufacturers don’t fully disclose their ingredients, often to protect intellectual property,” McKeon explains.  However, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to make smart decisions. “A trusted certification label helps bridge that gap, guiding consumers toward wiser choices for better IAQ,” McKeon says. Step up your laundry game Washing your bedding, clothing, and soft toys can play a crucial role in reducing allergens, especially dust mite allergens and pet dander. We at PopSci firmly believe in saving money and energy, and washing laundry in cold water is one way to save both. However, if you need to allergy-proof your home, you may need to turn up the heat.  “The most effective allergen removal occurs when washing is done at high temperatures [at least 131°F/55°C], as this temperature kills dust mites and removes their allergens from fabrics,” McKeon says.   LG washing machines LG However, McKeon warns that not all washing machines can maintain a consistently high temperature throughout the wash cycle effectively. If you’re in the market for a new washing machine, he recommends one that has undergone third-party testing to ensure that it can reach and maintain those high temps.   Also, McKeon recommends fragrance-free laundry detergents. “Many fragrance chemicals are sensitizers and increase the VOC emissions off-gassed by the detergent,” he explains. “An effective laundry detergent should have the ability to remove allergens from fabrics, any chemicals present should be non-sensitizing and non-allergenic, and VOCs should be at such low levels as to not be a concern.”   Tide Free & Gentle Laundry Detergent Tide Melanie Carver is the chief mission officer at the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). She recommends changing and washing any clothes that are worn during outdoor activities. “And dry your clothes in a clothes dryer or on an indoor rack, not on an outdoor line,” she advises. Change your shower routine You may be the type of person who likes to shower in the morning. However, if allergies are a concern, Carver recommends showering daily before you go to bed. “This will remove pollen from your body and hair and keep it off your bedding,” she explains. Use air purifiers We’re big fans of air purifiers because we know how important they are in maintaining a healthy living space. From the best air purifiers for asthma to the best air purifiers for smoke, we continually research and evaluate models. “Surprisingly, the air inside our homes can often be more harmful to our health than the air outside, as it contains a variety of pollutants and irritants that may cause allergies,” McKeon says.  “Everyday activities like cooking, VOCs emitted from paint and cleaning products, and even burning fuel (and candles) release particles and chemicals into the air.” And when you add common allergens like pollen, pet dander, and dust mite allergen, he says it’s clear that IAQ can have a serious impact on your health. Levoit Core 600 Air Purifier Levoit The Levoit Core 600 Air Purifier is one of the best air purifiers we’ve tested. Keep in mind that an air purifier with a higher clean air delivery rate (CADR) can clean the air faster than one with a lower CADR. In addition, Sternfeld recommends air purifiers with HEPA filters, such as the Levoit. They are effective at trapping airborne pollen, dust, and mold spores. “Place air purifiers in the bedroom or living area, or near high-traffic areas for maximum impact,” she says. Vacuum and clean with HEPA filters Sternfeld recommends regularly vacuuming with a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter. “HEPA filters trap microscopic particles, including pollen, pet dander, and dust mites, she says, adding that the American Lung Association also recommends using vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters. Clean high-traffic areas more frequently and vacuum more often, especially if you have pets, to reduce dander buildup. Shark Status Upright Vacuum Shark The Shark Status Upright Vacuum has a HEPA filter and can clean hard floors, carpet, upholstery, ceiling fans, and more.  Damp-clean surfaces regularly If you tend to dust and clean with dry materials, here’s another change you may need to make.  “Wipe down surfaces with a damp cloth to capture pollen, rather than allowing it to become airborne,” Sternfeld advises. “Research shows that dusting with a damp cloth is more effective at trapping allergens compared to dry dusting, and this is particularly important for surfaces like furniture, counters, and window sills.”  Make bedding a priority Bed linens are a prime place for dust mites and pollen to accumulate, according to Sternfeld. She recommends laundering sheets weekly in hot water to help wash away irritants.  “Encase pillows and mattresses in dust-mite-proof covers, and wash sheets weekly on hot water as it helps wash away irritants more effectively than cold or lukewarm water,” Sternfeld advises.  Investing in bedding and mattress protection can also provide allergy relief. “Dust mites, which thrive in the warm, humid environment of bedding, produce waste that is a key allergen,” McKeon warns.  To reduce exposure to these allergens, he recommends using scientifically validated dust mite-proof encasings for mattresses, pillows, and duvets. “These encasings prevent dust mites from passing through, and thus minimize allergen exposure.” In addition, McKeon recommends quality, breathable bedding products that are tightly woven with no weak points at the seams or zippers. “Furthermore, the fabric must be able to withstand frequent washing, as regularly washing bedding in hot water (130°F/55°C) further reduces allergen levels.” SIJO AiryWeight Tencel Sheet Set Stay cool and dry when sleeping on the SIJO AiryWeight Tencel Sheet Set, which is also hypoallergenic. Wash soft furnishings frequently In addition to washing sheets, blankets, and pillows regularly, Sternfeld says you should also wash cushion covers and other soft surfaces regularly, as they can trap allergens and harbor dust mites. “A weekly wash in hot water can help eliminate allergens,” she says.  In fact, McKeon recommends choosing either non-fabric furniture or covering fabric furniture with slipcovers that can be removed and washed weekly. Maintain your HVAC filters  While your HVAC keeps your home at a comfortable temperature, HVAC filters keep you comfortable in another way. “HVAC filters play a crucial role in improving indoor air quality by trapping airborne particles like dust, pet dander, and pollen, McKeon explains. “These particles can circulate throughout the home if not effectively captured by the HVAC system’s filter, exacerbating allergy symptoms.”  He recommends a higher Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating, as this indicates the filter is more effective at capturing airborne particulate matter. It’s also important to change your air filters regularly, which can be anywhere from 1 to 3 months, since dirty filters will recirculate dust and other allergens.  Filtrete Allergen Defense Filters Filtrete Filtrete Allergen Defense Filters capture a variety of allergens for cleaner air. (And don’t forget your furnace filters, either.) Control humidity If you keep your home’s humidity levels under 50 percent, Sternfeld says this can help prevent mold and mildew from thriving. “Place dehumidifiers in areas like basements and bathrooms to help control moisture,” she advises. Mold thrives in damp environments, and keeping humidity in check can significantly reduce mold-related allergy triggers.  Carver notes that those warm and moist bathrooms are also prime growing spaces for mold. “Run your bathroom’s exhaust fan or open windows during showers and for 15 to 20 minutes after to allow moisture to escape,” she says.  And here’s another tip from Carver: Don’t let damp towels pile up. Allow them to dry completely when you step out of the shower or bathtub.  On the other hand, don’t let humidity levels get too low. McKeon warns that low humidity can lead to respiratory irritation and trigger allergic asthma or dry skin, which could make your symptoms worse. Frigidaire 50-Pint Humidifier Frigidaire Keep humidity levels within a safe range with the Frigidaire 50-Pint Humidifier, which features three speed settings. Avoid attracting insects If you leave water and food sources out at night, Carver warns that you may be attracting cockroaches.  “A cockroach allergy is a common trigger of year-round allergy and asthma—if you are allergic to them, they can trigger asthma attacks,” she warns. Rubbermaid Brilliance 14-Piece Food Storage Container Set Rubbermaid Keep insects at bay with the Rubbermaid Brilliance 14-Piece Food Storage Container Set, which is airtight and stackable. The post How to allergy-proof your home appeared first on Popular Science.

Science
Chemicals
Food

More women view climate change as their number one political issue

A new report shows a growing gender gap among people who vote with environmental issues in mind.

A new report from the Environmental Voter Project (EVP), shared first with The 19th, finds that far more women than men are listing climate and environmental issues as their top priority in voting. The nonpartisan nonprofit, which focuses on tailoring get out the vote efforts to low-propensity voters who they’ve identified as likely to list climate and environmental issues as a top priority, found that women far outpace men on the issue. Overall 62 percent of these so-called climate voters are women, compared to 37 percent of men. The gender gap is largest among young people, Black and Indigenous voters.  The nonprofit identifies these voters through a predictive model built based on surveys it conducts among registered voters. It defines a climate voter as someone with at least an 85 percent likelihood of listing climate change or the environment as their number one priority.  “At a time when other political gender gaps, such as [presidential] vote choice gender gaps, are staying relatively stable, there’s something unique going on with gender and public opinion about climate change,” said Nathaniel Stinnett, founder of the organization.  While the models can predict the likelihood of a voter viewing climate as their number one issue, it can’t actually determine whether these same people then cast a vote aligned with that viewpoint. The report looks at data from 21 states that are a mix of red and blue. Read Next Where did all the climate voters go? Sachi Kitajima Mulkey Based on polling from the AP-NORC exit poll, 7 percent of people self-reported that climate change was their number one priority in the 2024 general election, Stinnett said. Of those who listed climate as their top priority, they voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by a 10 to 1 margin.  The EVP findings are important, Stinnett says, because they also point the way to who might best lead the country in the fight against the climate crisis. “If almost two thirds of climate voters are women, then all of us need to get better at embracing women’s wisdom and leadership skills,” Stinnett said. “That doesn’t just apply to messaging. It applies to how we build and lead a movement of activists and voters.”  Though the data reveals a trend, it’s unclear why the gender gap grew in recent years. In the six years that EVP has collected data, the gap has gone from 20 percent in 2019, and then shrunk to 15 percent in 2022 before beginning to rise in 2024. In 2025, the gap grew to 25 percentage points. “I don’t know if men are caring less about climate change. I do know that they are much, much less likely now than they were before, to list it as their number one priority,” he said. “Maybe men don’t care less about climate change than they did before, right? Maybe it’s just that other things have jumped priorities over that.” A survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, a nonprofit that gauges the public’s attitude toward climate change has seen a similar trend in its work. Marija Verner, a researcher with the organization, said in 2014 there was a 7 percent gap between the number of men and women in the U.S. who said they were concerned by global warming. A decade later in 2024, that gap had nearly doubled to 12 percent.  Read Next What do climate protests actually achieve? More than you think. Kate Yoder There is evidence that climate change and pollution impact women more than men both in the United States and globally. This is because women make up a larger share of those living in poverty, with less resources to protect themselves, and the people they care for, from the impacts of climate change. Women of color in particular live disproportionately in low-income communities with greater climate risk.  This could help explain why there is a bigger gender gap between women of color and their male counterparts. In the EVP findings there is a 35 percent gap between Black women and men climate voters, and a 29 percent gap between Indigenous women and men.  Jasmine Gil, associate senior director at Hip Hop Caucus, a nonprofit that mobilizes communities of color, said she’s not really surprised to see that Black women are prioritizing the issue. Gil works on environmental and climate justice issues, and she hears voters talk about climate change as it relates to everyday issues like public safety, housing, reproductive health and, more recently, natural disasters.  “Black women often carry the weight of protecting their families and communities,” she said. “They’re the ones navigating things like school closures and skyrocketing bills; they are the ones seeing the direct impacts of these things. It is a kitchen table issue.” The EVP survey also found a larger gender gap among registered voters in the youngest demographic, ages 18 to 24.  Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the president of youth voting organization NextGen America, said that in addition to young women obtaining higher levels of education and becoming more progressive than men, a trend that played out in the election, she also thinks the prospect of motherhood could help explain the gap.  She’s seen how young mothers, particularly in her Latino community, worry about the health of their kids who suffer disproportionately from health issues like asthma. Her own son has asthma, she said: “That really made me think even more about air quality and the climate crisis and the world we’re leaving to our little ones.” It’s a point that EVP theorizes is worth doing more research on. While the data cannot determine whether someone is a parent or grandparent, it does show that women between ages of 25 to 45 and those 65 and over make up nearly half of all climate voters. Still, Ramirez wants to bring more young men into the conversation. Her organization is working on gender-based strategies to reach this demographic too. Last cycle, they launched a campaign focused on men’s voter power and one of the core issues they are developing messaging around is the climate crisis. She said she thinks one way progressive groups could bring more men into the conversation is by focusing more on the positives of masculinity to get their messaging across.  “There are great things about healthy masculinity … about wanting to protect those you love and those that are more vulnerable,” she said. There are opportunities to tap into that idea of “men wanting to protect their families or those they love or their communities from the consequences of the climate crisis.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline More women view climate change as their number one political issue on Apr 26, 2025.

Climate
Activism
Education

Chronicling nature activism in a coastal corner of India

Intertidal is Yuvan Aves's extraordinary, personal exploration of the rich wildlife offsetting the urbanity of Chennai, India. While its focus is a small strip of Indian coast, its issues are global

An egret takes off at Pallikaranai marsh in Chennai, IndiaMuralidharan Alagar Arts and Photography/Getty Images IntertidalYuvan Aves (Ithaka) When Yuvan Aves was a boy, a search party had to be sent out after he went missing. It turned out he had been so enthralled, sitting by a pond, watching a small bird of prey leap across the water to catch hovering dragonflies that he had lost track of time. Decades later, the adult Aves is a naturalist, author, educator and environmental activist. He still spends hours watching wild creatures, and his observations of the natural world and the…

Activism
Water

More than 100 landfills in England may be leaching ‘highly hazardous’ waste

Inadequate record keeping means councils do not know whether former waste sites contain toxic substancesMore than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed.Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found. Continue reading...

More than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed.Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found.Although councils are supposed to keep track of the dangers of these sites, funding has long since disappeared and some local authorities had no idea they were responsible, the investigation found.David Megson, an environmental chemist from Manchester Metropolitan University, said most former landfill sites were “likely to be quite safe and contain relatively inert waste, but some could be quite sinister”.“Historic reporting of what went into these sites wasn’t great, so in many cases, you’ve got little idea what is in there until you dig into it,” he said.The investigation took data on the 20,000 former landfill sites in England to identify the most high-risk – those used to dump “special” or industrial waste, for example, which were used after 1945 and before the mid-1990s, when laws about keeping records on the contents of landfill sites came into place.This was then compared with Environment Agency flooding data, with help from Dr Paul Brindley, a mapping expert at the University of Sheffield, to find landfills where more than 50% of their surface area was flooded.Any dumps that only contained household waste, those known to be safe or where controls were already in place were removed from the data, leaving only those that may contain dangerous substances, including pharmaceuticals, “forever chemicals”, heavy metals or “liquid sludge” – which could be anything from sewage to cyanide waste.A total of 105 sites were identified, which were disproportionately situated in poorer areas and in the north of England.Prof Kate Spencer, a historic landfill expert from Queen Mary University of London, who helped with the investigation, said that in hundreds of years of dumping waste humans had “never really considered the consequences”.“We now know far more about the potentially harmful effects of the waste materials and pollutants we’ve dumped, particularly chemicals like Pfas and PCBs, and how the impacts of climate change, such as flooding, could reopen pathways for those pollutants to enter the environment.”The investigation also found that 2,600 former dump sites with potentially hazardous contents were within 50 metres of watercourses.Charles Watson, the chair and founder of campaign group River Action said: “Everywhere you look, polluters can find easily accessible loopholes in the enforcement regime to break the law and degrade the environment. However, the failure to provide adequate funding to regulate something as basic as landfill sites that could be leaching highly hazardous waste is all the more shocking.“If our regulators can’t sort out how to protect us from pollutants that in theory have already been ‘safely’ disposed of, then we have little hope of ever seeing a holistic approach to combating the wider sources of water pollution.”Until 2017, councils could apply for contaminated land capital grants, which were administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to remediate contaminated land. Since then, there has been an “erosion of funding”, said Dr Grant Richardson, an environmental consultant and expert on landfill and contaminated land.“If there’s no obvious risk of harm or pollution emanating from these sites, nothing will be done to investigate or remediate them unless sites come to be developed. That means there are likely hundreds or potentially thousands of sites that have not been properly investigated that could be leaching contaminants at harmful levels into the environment,” he said.The lack of funding in areas such as this could have “devastating consequences”, the Local Government Association warned, pointing to a wider funding gap for councils of up to £8bn by 2028-29. A spokesperson said local authorities “desperately need a significant and sustained increase” in budgets to keep up with demands placed on them.The Green peer Natalie Bennett, whose party supports a law requiring better records of sites so they are not a public danger, said: “The lack of adequate regulations on contaminated land poses a threat to human life and welfare, especially given climate breakdown, rising sea levels, increased rainfall and flooding.“Greens urge Labour to add this law to the statute books and provide the necessary funds for local authorities to meet the requirements of such a new law.”The Environment Agency said it would “continue to support” local authorities with their responsibility for dealing with former landfills. “In circumstances where the Environment Agency leads on remediation, we work tirelessly with partners to reduce unacceptable risks to human health and the environment,” it added.

Waste
Chemicals
Food

‘People can’t imagine something on that scale dying’: Anohni on mourning the Great Barrier Reef

The Anohni and the Johnsons singer is collaborating with marine scientists for two special shows at Sydney’s Vivid festival that will show the reef’s plight Anohni Hegarty is about to go to the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. “I feel like I’m going to Auschwitz,” she says nervously. “On the one hand, I’m so excited to go because the landscape is so beautiful, and I know there’s going to be so much that’s gorgeous. And yet, I’m also scared.”In a week, the British-born, New York-based avant garde singer of Anohni and the Johnsons is flying to Lizard Island, a paradise of powdery sands on the reef, 1,600km north-west of Brisbane. Its luxury villas and bluest of blue waters are a stark contrast to the grim nature of Anohni’s assignment: documenting the current state of the world’s biggest coral reef. Continue reading...

Anohni Hegarty is about to go to the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. “I feel like I’m going to Auschwitz,” she says nervously. “On the one hand, I’m so excited to go because the landscape is so beautiful, and I know there’s going to be so much that’s gorgeous. And yet, I’m also scared.”In a week, the British-born, New York-based avant garde singer of Anohni and the Johnsons is flying to Lizard Island, a paradise of powdery sands on the reef, 1,600km north-west of Brisbane. Its luxury villas and bluest of blue waters are a stark contrast to the grim nature of Anohni’s assignment: documenting the current state of the world’s biggest coral reef.Reefs are hubs of biodiversity, supporting about a third of all marine species and 1 billion people, and crucial to the Earth as both a carbon sink and a home to algae, which produce at least half of the planet’s oxygen. The Amazon rainforest, which produces about 20% of our oxygen, is often described as the Earth’s lungs; being the size of Italy or Texas, you could call the Great Barrier Reef the left lung and the Amazon the right. But the gigantic reef is not well: it has been hit by six mass coral bleaching events in the past nine years, an alarming trend driven by record marine heatwaves. If coral reefs disappear, scientists warn there will be a domino effect as other ecosystems follow – a step down the path towards mass extinction.Tracing the worst coral bleaching event in recorded history – videoAnohni has been thinking about what she calls “ceremonies fit for purpose”, for a loss of this magnitude. When a sudden catastrophe happens, like a terror attack or natural disaster, humanity has worked out ways to process grief and anger en masse: funerals, memorials, protest, activism. But what do we do in the face of a slower death – like the worst global bleaching event on record, which is happening right now and has hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs?“Where are the ceremonies fit for the purpose of naming and commemorating the times that we’re living through?” she asks. “To see the Great Barrier Reef fall, that’s 10,000 9/11s.”“People can’t really imagine something on that scale dying,” she says.For this year’s Vivid festival, Anohni is performing two shows at the Sydney Opera House, titled Mourning the Great Barrier Reef, featuring songs from across her career and footage of the reef captured at Lizard Island. With the help of Grumpy Turtle, a production company that specialises in underwater and conservation films, Anohni will be directing the scuba team from the surface in her snorkel. The image of such a poised performer, bobbing along in the ocean, seems wonderfully incongruous even to her. “I can’t believe I’m doing it,” she laughs. “I feel so privileged just to go. I’m scared and I’m very excited. But I’m with a great team, and they’re all very knowledgeable, so they’ll help me through it.”Just as a dying star glows more brightly before it goes dark, coral look even more beautiful in distress. Fluorescing – a phenomenon when corals release a garish pigment into their flesh as a sign of heat stress – is deceptively spectacular; and bleaching – when corals expel the photosynthetic algae that give them colour in response to warmer ocean temperatures – turns them a dazzling white.Bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in April last year. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images“It is like when someone’s dying, sometimes they show the gold of the soul,” Anohni says. “They throw their life force into a final expression. That’s what coral bleaching is … she’s saying goodbye.” She describes a conversation she had with a scientist who went out to visit a dead reef with a group of Danish students, “and they were all saying it was the most beautiful thing in the world, because they didn’t even know what they were looking at was a bunch of skeletons”.Anohni has long been singing about the climate crisis, sneaking this bitter pill into her beautiful, otherworldly songs. “I need another world,” she sang sorrowfully on 2009’s Another World. “This one’s nearly gone.” On 4 Degrees, released as world leaders met for the 2015 Paris climate conference, she sang her grim vision of the future: “I wanna hear the dogs crying for water / I wanna see the fish go belly-up in the sea / And all those lemurs and all those tiny creatures / I wanna see them burn, it is only four degrees.”She has grown used to being seen “as a kind of a Cassandra on the sidelines”; the prophet doomed to be ignored. Still, she is “so grateful” for being alienated in a way – as a trans artist, as a climate activist – “because when you have an outsider status, you have an opportunity to see the forest for the trees”.Her songs are often about how everything is connected: patriarchy, white supremacy, late stage capitalism, climate change denial, public surveillance, centuries of extraction and environmental degradation, and societies built on religions that preach that paradise is elsewhere, not here – “all this unwellness that we have woven together”, she says. Naomi Klein recently described Anohni as “one of the few musicians who have attempted to make art that wraps its arms around the death drive that has gripped our world”.It Must Change by Anohni and the JohnsonsAnohni has a special connection to Australia: in 2013 she was invited to visit the Martu people of Parnngurr, in the West Australian desert, “an experience that changed me forever”. When she asked one Martu woman where they believed people went after death: “She just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, ‘Back to country’.”This “deeply shocked” Anohni, from a British and Irish Catholic background. “She had a profound, peaceful acceptance of this animist reality,” she says. “I was raised in a society where they believed that only humans had souls and that this place was basically just a suffering ground where we had to mind our Ps and Qs. I no longer believe that.”In 2015, she played two concerts at Dark Mofo to raise proceeds for the Martu’s fight against a proposed uranium mine on their ancestral lands; the following year she joined them on a 110km protest march in the outback. She even willingly entered Australia’s most hostile environment – Q&A – where she memorably blasted a panellist for opposing wind turbines, telling him: “You’re doomed and I’m doomed and your children are doomed.”“I screamed at those fucking wankers, and made a fucking fool of myself,” she says, smiling, “and I was torn a new arsehole in the Murdoch press.” But at the same time, she was inundated with messages of support from all over the country. “I was proud of the chance to be of service to Australians,” she says.Great Barrier Reef suffering ‘most severe’ coral bleaching on record – videoStill, she agonises over her own impact on the environment, even the decision to go to Lizard Island. She is not assigning blame to anyone else – if anything, her finger is directed firmly at herself. “Just coming to Australia is an intolerable equation – the amount of oil that I burn to get there,” she says. Now if she performs in Australia, she does it for a cause and leaves the proceeds behind “because there’s no way morally to justify it any more”.For the Vivid project, Anohni is also interviewing eight “incredible” scientists about what they have observed on the Great Barrier Reef, including Dr Anya Salih, an expert on reef fluorescence, and the “Godfather of Coral”, Prof Charlie Veron. “They’re the ones who have stewarded the reef, who’ve watched her and cried with her as she’s declined,” she says. She admires that they don’t hide their grief; as Veron told the Guardian back in 2009: “The future is horrific. There is no hope of reefs surviving to even mid-century in any form that we now recognise.”“Australia is pioneering in this oeuvre of environmental feeling,” Anohni says. “It’s could be something to do with the Australian temperament. It’s more expressive. It’s stoic too, but there’s room for feeling. The English scientific community is very, very cruel in that regard – any expression of emotion is grounds for exclusion from any conversation of reason.”It is her hope that her Vivid shows will be fit for purpose – to show people the reality of the reef and give them a space to both marvel and grieve. “But to grieve doesn’t mean that a thing is done – to grieve just means that you’re recognising where we are,” she says.“For an hour and a half you can come to the Great Barrier Reef with me, and we’ll look at it and we’ll feel it. Without understanding what we’re looking at, there’s no hope of finding a direction forward. It’s actually a profound gesture of hope.”

Nature
Water
Climate

No Results today.

Our news is updated constantly with the latest environmental stories from around the world. Reset or change your filters to find the most active current topics.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Subscribers receive a free day pass for streaming Cinema Verde.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.